Eastlake High School junior water polo goalie James Derrod is on pace to set a new record in the San Diego Section for career saves.
Derrod picked up 14 saves in Thursday night’s climactic 10-9 Mesa League win over the Mar Vista Mariners at the Southwestern College pool to add to his growing total.
Eastlake coach Stuart Sokil estimates that Derrod needs to average 208 saves over the next two years to break the record that currently stands at 1,049, set by Monte Vista’s Gavin Glauser (1995-98).
The section record for most single-season saves is 496, set by Scripps Ranch’s Brandon Shroyer in 1999.
Derrod, who is playing his third varsity season with the Titans, logged 351 saves last season after making 286 his freshman year.
His veteran presence in the cage certainly paid dividends for Eastlake in Thursday’s showcase encounter against the Mariners, who along with the Titans, are favored to contend for this year’s league championship.
Case in point: Mar Vista hit wood (crossbar or posts) three times in the first quarter while Derrod came up big with as many superlative saves of his own to thwart an early surge by the Mariners.
Meanwhile, Eastlake managed to beat MV junior goalie Levi Lord three times on shots by junior Diego Scheitt, senior Jake Rose and senior Giancarlo Valverde-Barriga to build a 3-0 lead.
The Mariners finally beat Derrod on a five-meter penalty shot by senior Zach Hastings to star the second quarter. However, the Titans responded with two more goals to advance their lead to 5-1.
The four-goal cushion proved critical after Mar Vista (1-1 in league, 10-4 overall) began to generate momentum of its own. The Mariners stormed back to tie the game, 5-5, at halftime and took an 8-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
But Derrod made several key saves down the stretch while also getting some help from the crossbar to thwart Mar Vista’s chances of grabbing a win.
“It’s just about getting big (extending arms) when they come in close,” explained Derrod, who won a bronze medal with the San Diego Shores 16U-A club team at this summer’s USA Water Polo Junior Olympic national championship tournament in San Jose. “I try to get them to shot around me or either I’ll stuff it. I’m pretty good at communicating with my teammates. I run our team’s defense.”
Trying to shoot around Derrod usually results in two things: hitting wood or missing the cage.
Misses at inopportune times proved devastating for Mar Vista in Thursday’s high profile match-up.
With the score tied, 8-8, freshman Carlos Ibarra missed an open net. Moments later, senior captain Bryce Heber hit the crossbar when facing Derrod one-on-one at point-blank range.
Hasting’s final shot of the game with two seconds to play landed just outside the post to Derrod’s left.
“James was huge in this game,” Sokil said. “When he gets rolling, when he makes five solid blocks, that can get to (an opponent) mentally; it forces you to look for that perfect corner.”
“It makes them be more careful with their shots,” Derrod said.
Following Ibarra’s miss, Eastlake’s Logan Eyer finished off a counter-attack to put the Titans up 9-8. Stuart lauded the team play that resulted in the go-ahead goal. “The guys put together four or five beautiful passes,” the EHS coach noted.
But Hastings, a prominent candidate for league MVP honors this season, rallied his team with a half-tank foul shot that tied the game, 9-9, with 2:40 to play in regulation.
The game was still tied when the Titans (2-0 in league, 4-4 overall) received a six-on-five advantage following a Mar Vista exclusion with 1:40 to play. Scheitt scored 21 seconds later on the man-up to give his team a 10-9 edge with what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Eastlake managed to run down most of the clock from there, though Hastings, who finished the game with a team high five goals, did get off another long-range shot.
However, Hastings was unable to place the ball into that perfect corner past the outstretched arms of six-foot-six two-meter guard Eli Stewart and Derrod.
“We played very well, probably one of our better games this season,” Derrod said. “We played really well as a team.”
Scheitt, Rose and Valverde-Barriga led the Titans with two goals each while senior Jeremy Redden, senior Patrick Hooverson, junior Will Gammon and Eyer each scored single goals.
Zach Hastings keyed his team with five goals and four steals. Freshman Ethan Hastings, Zach’s younger brother, collected one goal, three steals and three assists in Thursday’s game while Heber had one goal, four steals and two assists. Senior Jeremy Longworth scored two goals and collected two steals while Ibarra and fellow freshman Fletcher Field (three steals) were credited with one assist each.
The Imperial Beach team managed to stay afloat in the high impact contest with 17 steals.
The Mariners, buoyed by a large group of five talented freshmen this season, rallied with five goals in the second quarter and finished with a 3-2 advantage in goals in the third quarter before Eastlake won the pivotal fourth quarter with a 3-1 scoring edge.
“It was a kind of rivalry game but a game against friendly rivals, and I think those are the most fun to play in,” Sokil said. “It was a good game. Mar Visa is playing awesome; their freshmen are playing very well.
“Our guys got a little sloppy until we had that great counter-attack goal that put us back on top (9-8). This is probably part one of the league championship.”
The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak by Mar Vista, which captured the championship title of last weekend’s Highlander-Sultan tournament.
The Mariners finished 5-0 in the three-day tournament with victories against Valley Center (12-3), El Camino (19-10), Helix (13-11), Bonita Vista (18-10) and Santana (12-8).
Zach Hastings led Mar Vista with five goals and two assists in the championship game against Santana while freshmen Fletcher Field and Ethan Hastings and Longworth each scored two goals.
Eastlake and Mar Vista both won their league openers on Tuesday to set up Thursday’s showdown for first place.
The Titans shaded host Mater Dei Catholic, last year’s league champion, by a score of 14-12, while the Mariners sank Bonita Vista, 17-11, in a game played at Southwestern College.
Eastlake rallied from a 6-4 halftime deficit with eight third-quarter goals.
“We had been running our counter throughout the game but it finally started to finally click in the third quarter,” Sokil said.
Mar Vista received goals from four players and points from six players in Tuesday’s win over Bonita Vista.
Zach and Ethan Hastings had a chance to shine as co-leaders with four goals and five assists each for nine points. Longworth (five goals, two assists) and Heber (four goals, three assists) each tallied seven points while Lord and Ibarra were each credited with one assist.
The Mariners, who zipped out to leads of 6-2 (after the first quarter) and 9-3 (at halftime), finished the game with 13 steals, including five by Zach Hastings and three each by Ethan Hastings and Longworth.
Bonita Vista’s Emiliano Castro scored nine goals for his team in the loss, including the final four goals in the game.
The Barons finished fourth in the Highlander-Sultan Invitational with a 2-3 record that included wins over Mission Hills (14-12) and Mt. Carmel (10-4) and losses to Mar Vista, Santana (14-12 in the semifinals) and Del Norte (11-7 in the third-place game).
Zach Hastings leads Mar Vista with 57 goals and 25 assists for 82 points in 14 games. He’s followed on the score sheet by Heber with 33 goals and 54 points, Ethan Hastings with 27 goals and 47 points and Longworth with 27 goals and 41points.
Lord has played in 12 games with 61 saves.
“Our goalie, who is a junior, and our three seniors — Zach Hastings, Jeremy Longworth and Bryce Heber — lead our team,” MV head coach Chad Kavanagh explained. “We have three freshmen starting. They know how to play water polo but have never played at the varsity level.”
Eastlake is scheduled to play at Mar Vista on Oct. 16. The MV newcomers can now look at game tape after seeing what Derrod can do to tip the scales of fortune in his favor.
Eastlake stat attack:
Tuesday’s game against Mater Dei Catholic:
Jacob Rose – 8 goals, 3 steals, 1 ejection drawn
Diego Scheitt – 3 goals, 1 steal, 1 ejection drawn
Jeremy Redden – 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 ejection, 1 penalty drawn
James Derrod – 16 saves, 2 assists
Thursday’s game against Mar Vista:
Diego Scheitt – 2 goals, 2 assists, 2 steals
Giancarlo Valverde-Barriga – 2 goals, 2 assists, 2 steals
Jacob Rose – 2 goals, 2 steals
James Derrod – 14 saves, 1 assist
Note: Derrod needs 412 saves to tie and 413 saves to break the CIF-SDS career record of 1,049 saves.
South Bay League
Games of Thursday, Sept. 13:
Otay Ranch 12, Olympian 6
The Mustangs improved to 2-0 in league play after turning a close game at the half into a six-goal victory by scoring five goals in the third quarter.
The game expected to be close and it was through the early going. Otay Ranch went up 1-0 on a goal by Jake Medrano only to have Olympian tied the game shortly thereafter.
Otay Ranch scored the opening two goals of the second quarter to lead 3-1 but the teams traded goals to end the half with the Mustangs in front 4-2.
The Eagles showed some competitive spirit by scoring the first goal in the third quarter to make it a one goal game at 4-3. But Otay Ranch proceeded to reel off four unanswered goal to build an 8-3 advantage on the scoreboard. Julian Orozco scored his third goal of the game later in the quarter to push the Mustangs in front 9-4.
Olympian’s Andreas Contreras scored to pull his team to within 9-5 but Otay Ranch quickly regained control as Orozco scored to end the third quarter to put his team ahead 10-5.
The Eagles made it 10-6 before the Mustangs closed out the game with the final two goals.
Orozco lit the water on fire with seven goals while Medrano finished the contest with five goals. Ivan Lopez contributed three assists.
Contreras had two goals for Olympian, which dropped to 1-1 in league play.
Caleb Lee was playing his second game as Otay Ranch’s goalie after being pressed into emergency duty. He received kudos from Mustang head coach Carolyn Lechner for his performance.
“He’s only been in the cage for three days,” Lechner explained. “He had seven saves in our game against Chula Vista on Tuesday (a 13-5 Otay Ranch victory) and 11 saves today. I couldn’t be more happy. A good goalie blocks 50 percent of shots. He’s really picked it up fast and stepped it up for the team.”
Medrano collected five goals and five steals in the win over Chula Vista while Orozco contributed two goals and one steal. Six other players each scored one goal. Lechner noted it was the first goal of the season for four of those players.
The win over Olympian boosted the Mustangs’ early season record to 5-4 overall.
“I’m hoping to make it to the playoffs — I’d love to go top 12 … that’s our goal for the season,” Lechner said.
Games of Tuesday, Sept. 11:
Olympian 14, Southwest 5
The Eagles had been practicing since the end of July but didn’t play their first game until the second week in September. Let’s say that practice makes perfect as Olympian won its season opener in grand fashion.
The nine-goal win over the Raiders doubled as the Eagles’ South Bay League opener.
Christopher Salang led Olympian with five goals while teammate Miguel Zurita scored four times.
The game was face-paced with both teams ceaselessly in attack mode as if playing basketball in the water.
“I think we did really well,” first-year Eagles head coach Craig Collins said. “We missed some opportunities. We have a lot of swimmers. We have 11 seniors. We’re learning how to rotate people in. We have a deep bench.”
In previous non-league games:
Francis Parker 16, Otay Ranch 9
In a game played Sept. 5 at the Southwestern College pool, the second-year Lancers took control of the game early with a 6-0 lead and racked up multiple goals in each quarter to maintain momentum. Francis Parker led 7-2 at halftime and 13-5 heading into the final quarter.
Francis Parker sped to a 3-0 lead on goals by Carlos-Andres Heredia, Matt Bender and Alec Sheres. The Lancers doubled the score on goals by Bender, Heredia and Adam Nussbaum.
Otay Ranch got on the scoreboard with back-to-back goals by Julian Orozco and Jake Medrano to make it a 6-2 game but the visitors responded with a goal by Sheres to head into halftime with a five-goal lead. The Lancers reeled off the first four goals of the second half to lead 11-2. Bender scored three of those goals.
Bonita Vista 20, Otay Ranch 10
In a game played on Aug. 31 at the Southwestern College pool, the Barons jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before the pesky Mustangs rallied to make it a one-goal game at halftime, with Bonita Vista holding a 7-6 lead.
The second half of the game proved to a different story as the Barons piled up a 13-4 scoring edge. Elimiano Castro topped Bonita Vista with six goals while Kyle Rex, Archie Orozco and Samy Metta each scored four times.
Bonita Vista defeated Rancho Buena Vista, 11-3, in a non-league encounter the previous evening at the SWC pool. In that game, Castro led the Barons with five goals while Rex and Orozco each scored two goals.
Bonita Vista vs. Otay Ranch
Photos by Phillip Brents
